Building Single-page Web Apps with Meteor

Build real-time apps at lightning speed using the most powerful full-stack JavaScript framework

About This Book

• Create a complete web blog from frontend to backend that uses only JavaScript
• Understand how Web 2.0 is made by powerful browser-based applications
• Step-by-step tutorial that will show you how fast, complex web applications can be built

Who This Book Is For

If you are a web developer with basic knowledge of JavaScript and want to take on Web 2.0, build real-time applications, or simply want to write a complete application using only JavaScript and HTML/CSS, this is the book for you.

This book is based on Meteor 1.0.

What You Will Learn

• Create reactive templates that update themselves when data changes
• Use database queries on the client and the server to retrieve, sort, and manipulate datasets
• Understand data synchronization using a publication/subscription model and make API calls a thing of the past
• Discover how you can secure your data flow on the server side to keep confidential data secret
• Add routing to a single-page application and make it appear like a real website
• Build your own advanced reactive objects and make everything rerun when you want
• Make your own Meteor packages and learn how to make them public
• Unit test your packages and Meteor applications

In Detail

Meteor is the best JavaScript platform on the Web that allows you to build real-time web applications quickly and easily and in pure JavaScript. It comes with a full build process that takes care of everything, from development to production, with no need for configuration. This book takes you from the installation of Meteor to building a fully working web blog (including backend) to create and edit posts.

You will start with the basic concepts and folder structure of a Meteor project, learning how Meteor templates work. Learn how to retrieve and send data to the server and manipulate the database content. Routing will later make your example app look and behave like a real website. Next, you'll get to grips with Meteor's reactivity concept that can rerun functions when data changes while you're building your own reactive object, and package it later for drop-in use. After your app is ready, the book continues with ways of deploying your app on different types of servers. Finally, we will take a look at testing packages and the application itself.